Revelations
by WickedAmysRule
Summary: Derek was Chloe's friend. At least, she considered him her friend. Its only natural that friends should be indignant on each other’s behalf when people implied that they were dangerous half-human monsters...right?


This story takes place directly after Chapter 8 of the Reckoning. Although I realize it is way too early in the book for Derek and Chloe to actually get together, this is for everyone who, like me, wishes they would just make out already! I know, keep dreaming, right?

Disclaimer: I do not own Darkest Powers. Sadly, this means that I don't own Derek either.

* * *

Chloe stormed into her room, seething with rage. She could not stop thinking about her conversation with Andrew. Although deep down she knew that he was only trying to help...his "advice" seemed more like betrayal. Not only was she furious about the things he had implied about Derek...but she also questioned why it bothered her so much. Derek was her friend. At least, she considered him her friend. Its only natural that friends should be indignant on each other's behalf when people implied that they were dangerous half-human monsters...right?

'_Of course_,' Chloe told herself sternly. '_Thats all it is. Derek isn't dangerous, and he's certainly not the monster that the world views him to be'. _Especially Andrew. After all, he had been Kit's, Simon and Derek's dad, closest friend. Andrew had grown up with both boys, had known them when they were young children, and should know better than to judge Derek just because he is a werewolf! Seriously, Chloe had known Derek for only a few weeks, and she sure as hell wasn't judging! Well, she had at first...but Derek started it. Once he got over his whole being a jerk to the new necromancer act, he and Chloe had been able to get along fairly well. They still got on each other's nerves, with Chloe's stupid decisions and Derek's tendency to overreact to everything, but things had definitely gotten better.

Chloe sighed. Although she had been able to see past Derek the werewolf and actually gotten to know Derek the person, she knew all to well that most people would never give him a chance.

"_We consider them, as they consider themselves, a breed apart." _

But they weren't a breed apart. Not anymore than necromancers, sorcerers, or half demons at least.

_ "You need to remember Derek is different. You need to be careful." _

Derek's different. _NO DUH!_ Chloe had wanted to scream at him. '_We're all different. If we weren't we wouldn't be here, on the run from a crazy group of evil scientists. We would be at home with our families, going to school, and complaining about homework. Instead, we are fugitives, hiding in a big old house, and trying not to get killed by bored ghosts.' _Normal. Chloe wasn't even sure she knew what the word meant anymore. The limited experience she had being normal before being sent to the Lyle House paled in comparison with the last few weeks' adventures.

_ "Half of him is an animal ruled by instinct. There are some instincts..." _

Chloe had to snort at this one. Was Andrew really insinuating what she thought she was? The thought of Derek liking Chloe as more than a friend was laughable.

"_Derek seems very attached to you, Chloe." _

Yeah. Right. Maybe Derek didn't mind having Chloe around. Maybe he didn't think of her as a hinderance, a ditzy blond damsel in distress. Maybe being with him when he changed into a werewolf was a comfort to him. Chloe could believe these things. She _wanted _to believe these things. But Derek liking Chloe as more than a friend? Derek enjoying being around her for no other reason than she makes him happy? Maybe, one day soon, Derek would lose all self control and no longer be able to keep his desires in check! This time, Chloe really did laugh out loud. Is that really what Andrew thought? That Derek had some sort of feelings for Chloe?

Chloe blushed, as she realized that although the chances of Derek caring deeply for her were highly unlikely, she wouldn't mind so much if he _did _feel this way. Not that Chloe had ever considered Derek the boyfriend-type, that was way more down Simon's alley. When she and Derek had been caught sneaking around together at the Lyle House, Chloe had been humiliated at the misconception that they had been doing..._things _together. Chloe blushed even deeper. Now, the thoughts of her and Derek actually doing those things weren't entirely unpleasant. Chloe blinked. '_Where did that thought come from? You only like Derek as a friend, remember?' _Although Chloe thought she had impressed this thought on her brain five minutes earlier, now she wasn't so sure.

Did Chloe have feelings for Derek? The more she told herself that she didn't, the more it seemed like she was in denial. Chloe had never had a serious boyfriend...actually Chloe had never had _any_ boyfriend. '_Is this what liking someone feels like?' _She wondered.

This was just so typical! Just when it seemed impossible for her life to get any weirder, she had to go and develop a crush on the antisocial werewolf! How could this have happened? Derek was impatient, insensitive, rude...yet caring, protective, and selfless when it came to the people he loved.

When she thought about it that way...Chloe didn't have such a hard time accepting the fact that she to be more than 'just friends' with Derek.

* * *

After this shocking revelation, Chloe could not bring herself to leave her room. Which may seem ridiculous, because among Derek's many enhanced werewolf powers, reading minds was not one of them. Chloe wasn't so much worried that Derek would be able to figure out Chloe's feelings on his own, because despite Andrew's protests, he is a _guy._ Guys never figure this stuff out.

However, the fact remains that Chloe is terrible about keeping secrets. Whenever she tries to hide something, her embarrassing stutter gives her away. _I haven't stuttered in a while, though, _Chloe thought to herself. _Maybe I'm completely over that habit. _Consoled, Chloe stepped into the hallway, and, once again, fate proved herself to be a bitch. Chloe had barely shut the door behind her when Derek stepped out of the bathroom...with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. If Chloe had been the type of girl who swore, her brain would have been thinking _Oh shit oh shit oh shit.... _But Chloe never swore, so instead, she turned beat red and forced herself to look away. After a moment. What was a teenage girl to do? Really, anyone who considered Simon the only cute brother had clearly never seen Derek without a shirt on.

"H-h-hey...D-d-derek." Chloe stuttered. "S-s-sorry, I d-didn't r-r-realize..." "It's ok." Derek muttered. "Bathroom's open if you need it." And with that, he headed toward his room. _Well, so much for that. _Chloe thought to herself. She should have never left her room.

* * *

Lunch that day was awkward. For Chloe, at least. Derek seemed completely unfazed by that morning's events, and Simon and Tori were clueless. In this case, Chloe could admit that she was the one who was overreacting. She had seen Derek shirtless before, back when things were simply platonic between them. _Things still ARE platonic between us. _Chloe reminded herself. _Derek has no idea you think of him in that way. _It was with that thought that Chloe managed to make it through lunch.

"Chloe, are you all right?" Simon asked with concern. Chloe panicked. Simon wasn't as clueless as he seemed after all! "You seem a little nervous." His expression turned sympathetic. "Hey, you aren't worried that the Edison Group will find us here, are you?" That was actually a really good excuse. "Because I promise that you're safe." he continued. "You can trust Andrew, and I will do whatever it takes to protect you. You will not be captured again." He said fiercely, meeting Chloe's eyes. Chloe breathed a sigh of relief. Simon really was as clueless as he seemed. Said boy interpreted this sigh as a reaction to his little speech, and smiled warmly at Chloe. "Thanks, Simon. I really appreciate it." Chloe replied, and then quickly changed the subject.

"Hey so we have the rest of the day ahead of us, and nothing to do. I've been really anxious to search the basement, see if we can find anything interesting." "Absolutely not." Came Andrew's voice. Chloe jumped, how long had he been standing there? "I forbid you to go anywhere near that basement, who knows what might be down there?" Like that was about to stop Chloe. After the past couple of weeks, the orders of an authority figure has ceased to mean anything to her. "If you say so." Chloe conceded, feigning disappointment. "I guess we'll find something else to do in our spare time." Andrew relaxed. "Ok, have fun. Just don't get into any trouble." As Chloe turned to leave, she realized that she no longer needed to pretend to be disappointed. While Chloe was being "consoled" by Simon, Derek had left the room.

Chloe was horrified. _Derek probably thinks that I have feelings for Simon. Heck, until today, I thought I had feelings for Simon!_

Chloe had two options. She could

1- Pretend like nothing had happened and hang out with Simon and Tori or

2- Seek out Derek and say...What? What could Chloe possibly say to him? She could tell him the truth about her newly acquired feelings for him. But she was just starting to accept that! It was much to early to tell Derek!

Still, Chloe couldn't stand knowing that Derek thought something was going on between her and Simon, so she chose the latter of the two options, and began her search for Derek.

* * *

Searching for an unhappy, antisocial werewolf is much more difficult then it sounds, because there seems to be a never ending list of places that he could be. Chloe checked all the bedrooms, the bathrooms, and had even wandered around outside. But Derek was nowhere to be found, and Chloe was starting to get very frustrated. Until a horrible thought came to her. _He wouldn't. _Derek wouldn't really have gone to investigate the basement without her...would he? Whatever happened to their buddy system? His agreement to (more or less) not hide things from her? He was in _so _much trouble...

The door to the attic opened, and Derek stepped out. _Or not. _An overwhelming sense of relief enveloped Chloe. And guilt. She should know better than to think Derek would have done something so important without her. She had thought to check the roof this morning, why hadn't she now? Instead, she had assumed the worst. And she knew better than that.

Chloe forced herself to sound casual. "I've been looking for you," she informed Derek. His normally indifferent expression changed to a look of surprise before quickly reverting back to indifferent. "Huh. I would have thought you would be hanging out with Simon." Was it just her wishful thinking, or did Derek's tone sound a little bitter? "Why would you think that?" This time, Derek's expression turned to one of anger, and remained that way. "I may not be completely toned in on my social skills, but I'm not _blind,_" he informed her, sounding insulted.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Chloe insisted. "Simon and I are just friends."

Whatever Chloe expected to happen next, it wasn't this. Derek rolled his eyes, stormed into his room, and slammed the door. Now Chloe was pissed. How dare he treat her like this? Chloe banged on his door. "Open up, Derek! I need to talk to you!" She said this very quietly, after all, Derek had superhuman hearing, and there was no need to bring the rest of the household into this. But she made sure to put as much threat into her voice as possible, which, admittedly, compared to Derek, wasn't very much. The possibility of Chloe honestly scaring Derek was practically nonexistent. But, for whatever reason, Derek grudgingly opened his door.

"What?" he said curtly.

"C-c-can I c-come in?" Chloe stuttered. What happened to all her courage? It was there two seconds ago!"

Derek looked apprehensive, but stepped aside to allow Chloe entrance.

Taking a deep breath, Chloe turned to face him. "Why would you automatically think that I would prefer to spend time with Simon? The whole world doesn't revolve around him, you know."

Derek blinked. Chloe continued, "True, you may lose your temper at times, but I consider you my friend, and I am just as fed up as you are with everyone judging you because you're a werewolf." Her eyes softened. "I'm on _your _side Derek."

Derek was speechless. His mouth opened and closed, as if he was trying to process what Chloe just said. "I consider you my friend too, Chloe," he struggled on the word _friend, _as he probably wasn't accustomed to using it. "But...I see the way you and Simon act around each other. This morning, when he was comforting you...well, I'm never like that. Ever since we met, I haven't treated you very well, but I'm trying to fix that," _That explains his weird behavior on the roof yesterday. _"But still, I could never be like Simon."

These words only made Chloe more confused. "But Derek, why would you _want _to be like Simon? You two couldn't be more different."

Derek looked away. He looked as if he was having some sort of internal debate. Finally, so quietly that Chloe could barely hear him, he admitted, "Because I want you to look at me the way you look at Simon. And because I know that he is the better choice for you. He can make you happy...as I know I never can."

Chloe's heart raced. Did he really just confess what she thought he did? Judging by the expression of complete humiliation on his face (which must have been a first), she was going to assume yes. "Derek..." Chloe said softly, "You have no idea how wrong you are." And with that, Chloe pulled Derek down and kissed him.

For a moment, he didn't move. Just when Chloe was starting to panic, _how could I have possibly misread his intentions?_, he grabbed her waist firmly, and kissed her back.

_Oh. WOW., _was all Chloe could think. This was absolutely incredible. The feeling of their bodies pressed tightly together, Derek's muscles rippling as his lips moved forcefully against hers. It was all to much. She never wanted it to end. Just when she thought it couldn't get any better, Derek tilted her head back to deepen the kiss. And all thoughts Chloe had fled from her brain. She couldn't think, she couldn't _breathe, _all she could do was feel.

After what seemed like forever, but still all too soon in Chloe's mind, they broke apart. Breathing heavily, they stared into each other's eyes. Derek's were full of shock and wonder, and Chloe smiled up at him.

"So...I take it you like me too?" She asked excitedly.

Derek grinned back. "You have _no _idea." And, with that, he pulled Chloe closer and resumed kissing her.

* * *

Ok, confession time. This is my first fanfiction ever! I have written numerous ones in my head...and was finally like 'Hey! I should write one of these things down!' So, how did I do? Did you like it? Hate it? Let me know! Review! Flame me if you must, but please be honest! If you liked it...great! If not...oh well. I can't please everybody.

A super huge thank you to my friends Nina and Allie for beta-ing this for me. You guys are the best!


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